SSG Landers ace Kim Gwang-hyeon (35) succeeded in breaking the momentum of the Lotte Giants, albeit slightly.
Kim Gwang-hyun started the game against Lotte at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 20th and led the team to a 5-0 victory with 1 hit and no runs in 6 innings. Won 3 wins (1 loss) of the season.
Today’s match was very important. SSG lost 5-7 to Lotte the day before (19th) and lost its leading position. Lotte, which was on the rise in May following April, regained the lead in three days and was on the rise.
On the 20th, Sajik Stadium was infested with Lotte’s soaring rise. A total of 22,990 people entered, forming a crowd of 10,000.
Kim Gwang-hyun proved his ace in an important match. He kept his pride as a native ace by winning the starting fight with Lotte ace Dan Strayley (6 hits, 5 runs in 5 innings).
Perhaps because he improved his condition early in line with the World Baseball Classic (WBC), Kim Gwang-hyun did not have a good start this season.
He had an average ERA of 4.08 with 2 wins and 1 loss in 7 games until the last 19 days. He even went to the 2nd Army once due to shoulder inflammation.
However, he gave his best pitch against Lotte on the 20th. He pitched 4 walks, no runs for the first time all season and struck out 9, the most.
He has a low four-seam fastball rate of less than 30% this season, but it was lower in the low 20% range in this game. Instead, he stole the timing of the Lotte batting line with a slider, changeup, and curve ball. Lotte’s proud ‘Busan Series’ was held, and despite the enthusiasm of Lotte fans who filled Sajik Stadium in red camellia uniforms, Kim Kwang-hyun threw his ball without being intimidated or nervous at all. If SSG had lost the match today, the team atmosphere would have subsided as the inferior series was confirmed early in the highly anticipated ‘Battle for 1st Place Distribution’, but Kim Gwang-hyun showed the appearance of an ace. He passed the mound to the winning group from the 7th inning with 88 pitches (58 strikes).
Kim Gwang-hyun also welcomed, saying, “Recently, Lotte’s momentum has been great. But still, it seems that Lotte’s momentum has been slightly broken today with a scoreless victory.”
Kim Gwang-hyun continued his upward trend against Lotte. Since 2015, he has continued his 11-game winning streak against Lotte. His overall record for Lotte in the last 10 years is 13 wins and 1 loss with an average ERA of 2.71.